“He also said his hearing isn’t for over a month,” Adalyn told him, wishing she didn’t have to give him this news. “I think he feels like he failed, and he shouldn’t feel that way. He did his job.”
“I am not angry with Silas. I will give him a call once we get to the shop. Let me go take a quick shower and then we will head over there.” Ashton kissed her. “Sit in that chair and don’t move,” he told her as he pointed to a chair outside an office. Rolling her eyes, she went and sat down.
Adalyn knew that everything he did was to keep her safe, but she had never met a man that was so controlling and demanding. She didn’t argue with him about it though because he wasn’t mean to her. She also knew that he was under a lot of stress with the Andrew situation. He would chill out after that was taken care of.
“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?” asked a voice, she hadn’t noticed approaching her.
“Um…waiting for my boyfriend,” she answered, startled.
“He was stupid to leave you alone, especially in a place like this,” he told her. She looked up to see a stocky guy, on the shorter side grinning at her. If she had to guess she would say he was of Hispanic descent. He had golden toned skin, dark hair and eyes, and a slight accent.
“You can head into the locker room and tell him you think he was stupid to leave me out here if you like. I am not sure exactly how well that will work out for you though,” Adalyn told him.
“Who should I inform of his stupidity?” he grinned, giving her a wink.
“Ashton,” she said confidently. She watched with pleasure as the grin fell from his face.
“That is one dude, I am not stupid enough to fuck with. If you are his, then he is one lucky son of a bitch,” he told her shaking his head in disbelief.
“What exactly are you doing here Ramirez?” Ashton growled from behind him.
“I was just saying hello,” he said as he turned toward him.
“Well, this lucky son of a bitch needs to head to work. Let’s get going, sweetheart,” Ashton said holding out his hand to Adalyn, winking at the fighter.
They walked hand in hand out of the gym. Ashton guided her toward the car, opening the passenger side door for her.
Before Adalyn had a chance to climb into the car, he pressed her against it and kissed her, stealing her breath. “Just so you have not a single doubt about us in that beautiful head of yours, I want you to know that I love you and I will spend the rest of my life, doing everything in my power keeping you safe and happy. I love you, baby,” he told her as he gently guided her into her seat.
The drive toward the shop was short. Ashton had called Silas to meet them at the shop so they could talk. When they pulled into the parking lot, he already saw him waiting. He was casually leaned up against his car.
As Ashton helped Adalyn out of the car, Silas had walked over and followed them into the shop.
“It’s nice to see you again, Adalyn,” Silas said as he kissed her cheek. “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
“You are just doing your job. You have nothing to apologize for,” she told him.
“Keep your lips to yourself, asshole,” Ashton said with a grin.
“I see how it is. I talk to her and get choked out, this fucker kisses her, and you grin about it,” said Adam.
“Shut it, fucker, not your girl, not your call,” Ashton growled. “Keep your mouth shut, or you won’t have this job anymore.”
“Why don’t you guys just whip it out and measure,” Aislyn giggled from her seat behind the counter.
“Shut it, sis,” Ashton grinned.
“I’m just calling it, like I see it. Why you letting the cop kiss on your girl, anyhow,” Aislyn responded.
“I see I made an impression,” Silas said with a cocky grin.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t date cops,” Aislyn told him.
“We’ll see,” he told her with a wink.
“Anyway, why is Adalyn here, not that I mind. Maybe she can be my blank canvas,” Aislyn giggled.
“Blank canvas,” Adalyn asked confused.
“Yeah, I can give you your first tat,” she told her.
“I thought you were just the office pretty,” Adalyn winked at her.
“I am that and so much more, sweetie. Now can I give you a tattoo or not?” she asked.
“Are you any good?” Adalyn asked.
“He taught me, what do you think?!” Aislyn responded, pointing toward Ashton.
“Yes. I think you are the perfect person to do it,” she slyly grinned.
Aislyn clapped her hands, jumping from her seat. She quickly pulled Adalyn behind her before Ashton could stop her.
Seven
An hour later, Aislyn was putting a temporary covering to protect the tattoo. They walked quietly out into the front of the shop. Three sets of eyes were staring in anticipation.
“Babe, did you seriously let my sister put ink on you?” Ashton asked in disbelief. “Please tell me you were actually sitting in there talking the entire time, just to make me think that is what you were doing.”
“Nope, no teasing. I actually let her give me my first tattoo. Are you mad?” she asked, beginning to wonder if he was upset.
“Not mad, just want to see it,” he told her. She watched as his eyes raked over her body. She saw a look of confusion wash over his face and couldn’t help the giggle that escaped.
“You should know the process, Ink Master. Why do you look so confused, baby?” Adalyn teased him, giving him a wink.
“Trying to figure out where you put the ink is all,” he told her as he pulled her by the hand into his chest.
Running his hand up her body, he paused when he felt something along her rib cage. His eyes snapped to her eyes. “You tatted your ribs,” he growled.
“It seemed like the right spot,” she told him.
“So, when do I get to see it?” he asked her curiously.
Adalyn began to lift her shirt to show him. He growled and gently recovered the tiny bit of skin she exposed.
“I thought you wanted to see it?” she asked him confused.
“You are not showing any skin in front of anyone,” he grinned, giving her a kiss on the nose, hoping that would soften the blow of him snapping at her. No one needed to see it but him.
“It’s not like I’m getting naked in front of them, Ashton. Its harmless, it’s my ribcage,” she told him sadly, confused as to why he snapped at her.
“Baby, I am not mad at you, please don’t look at me like that. I just don’t want anyone seeing anything on you that they don’t need to…that includes your ribcage,” he said giving her a smile, placing a kiss on her neck.
“Never thought I would see the day,” Silas said, chuckling.
“What day is that?” Ashton growled.
“The day where you became even more of a hard-ass and kitten all in one,” Silas told him.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ashton asked him.
“You are a complete badass and I wouldn’t ask for a better person to have my back, you know this. Seeing you be gentle with her with that look of adoration. I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m a little jealous. I just never thought that you would find the right person,” Silas told him.
“I don’t know about the whole kitten thing, but I would do absolutely anything for her,” he responded. “I don’t think the guy at the gym thinks I’m a kitten.”
“That is true,” Adalyn giggled. “I don’t think anyone in there is even going to look in my direction, let alone talk to me.”
“Then I did my job right,” Ashton grinned, proud of himself.
“I hate to break up this little powwow, but your appointment is here Ash,” Aislyn called from across the room at the counter.
“I will be right there. Keep an eye on her,” Ashton told Silas. Ashton leaned down giving Adalyn a kiss. “Don’t go anywhere without Silas with you.”
“Are you ready?”
Ashton asked the girl standing at the counter.
“I am,” she told him, batting her eyes at him. Walking in front of him toward the room he had pointed to, she had an exaggerated sway to her hips.
“Could she be any more obvious?” Adalyn scoffed.
“Sweet pea, he only has eyes for you. You have nothing to worry about,” Silas told her.
“I just hate chicks like that. I have never been one to throw myself at a guy,” she laughed as she thought about that comment. Ashton brought out a different side of her.
“That bitch has been trying to get in his pants for years. He has never even glanced in her direction. He does ink on her because it is a paycheck, that is it, nothing more,” Aislyn told Adalyn.
“I am out of here for the night,” Adam called to Aislyn as he walked out.
“So, I have to ask, why did he go out of his way to not look at you or talk to you? Kind of rude if you ask me,” asked Silas.
“He tried flirting with Adalyn, and then talked shit about Ashton, not knowing who he was,” Aislyn explained with a laugh from her perch in the front of the shop.
“And he can still breathe?” Silas asked with huge eyes.
Before anything else could be said the bell over the front door chimed. Adalyn and Silas were sitting in a waiting area off to the side out of the line of sight. Aislyn was at the counter.
“Welcome to Ink Addicts,” Aislyn said. “How can I help you?”
“I was wondering if you had time to do a tattoo?” he said.
“Yeah, I can do that for you. Go ahead and step into the room right there and I will be right in,” Aislyn said pointing off to the left.
Aislyn gathered her supplies and followed behind him into the small room.
“What can I do for you today?” Aislyn asked.
“I need my girlfriend’s name on my chest,” he told her.
“Are you sure that is something you want. I tend to advise against someone putting a person’s name on them unless it is their child,” Aislyn explained.
“It isn’t something I will regret. We are getting married this weekend, so I am doing it as a surprise. Besides, I am paying you to do it, you shouldn’t care what I want,” he told her cockily.
“If you are completely sure I will do it,” Aislyn told him. “Do you have a specific script you want and what is the lucky girl’s name?”
“I don’t care about the script. Her name is Adalyn. We have been together for a few years, and she finally told me yes,” he explained.
“Um, o.k. Tell me about her so I can get a sense of how I want to write her name,” Aislyn told him.
“She is gorgeous. Model gorgeous. Dark hair with bright green eyes. Could we hurry this up though, I have a six-hour drive ahead of me to get her back home,” he told her.
“No problem,” she told him, a little taken back by his change in demeanor.
Twenty minutes later she was placing a bandage over the fresh tattoo. “There you go. I hope she likes it,” Aislyn told him as she held the door open for him to exit the small room. “You can pay at the counter,” she told him, pointing in the direction of the register.
“Aislyn, can you ring her up after you take care of this dude,” Ashton asked as he followed her out.
“Actually, I was wondering if you could, that way I can go check on our girl. I feel bad leaving her with Silas this long,” Aislyn told him. Ashton nodded at her and made his way around the counter.
“What ink did you get, bro?” Ashton asked, without looking at the guy.
“I got my fiancée’s name,” he said smugly.
“You got a chick’s name? Hope it works out for you,” he said, finally looking up at the guy.
Ashton stared at him for a minute thinking he looked really familiar, but he couldn’t place where he knew him from. “How are you going to pay?” he asked.
“Card, if that is alright,” he told Ashton.
“That’s fine,” Ashton said.
“Ashton, Silas was going to take me to pick up dinner. What do you want?” Adalyn asked him, walking in his direction.
Hearing her approach, three sets of eyes swung in her direction. Ashton, the guy he was ringing up, and the stupid chick he worked on.
“Oh, my fucking hell,” Adalyn said, stopping dead in her tracks. She couldn’t make herself move any closer.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” Ashton asked, confusion and concern creeping into his voice.
Adalyn couldn’t talk because she was beginning to hyperventilate. She could only point at the guy. She began to see spots and couldn’t help the darkness that was taking over.
*****
Adalyn woke up to an odd beeping sound. She was getting frustrated because it wouldn’t stop, and she didn’t know where it was coming from. She was finally able to open her eyes completely and instantly regretted it. The bright lights were killing her eyes. Everything hurt, and she didn’t know why. Slowly looking around a room she didn’t recognize, her eyes finally fell on a very concerned looking Aislyn.
“How are you feeling?” Aislyn asked, giving her a small smile.
“I am sore. Where the hell am I?” she asked.
“In the hospital. You hit your head really hard when you passed out and we couldn’t get you to wake up. When Silas heard Ash yell for you, he came in and was able to explain to him why you were so freaked out. Ashton went nuts and started beating the shit out of Andrew. The shop is a total mess, he put him through a wall. Adalyn, he almost killed him,” Aislyn explained sadly.
“Where is he, I have to see him,” Adalyn screamed.
“He is at the station still. Officer Costa, well Silas, being there is the only thing that is probably going to keep him out of jail. He isn’t happy that he can’t be here with you,” Aislyn told her.
“I am no good for him. I told him that all I was going to bring was drama, but he didn’t want to listen, now look at where he is. Stubborn ass!” she cried.
“Hey! You listen to me. He loves you and doesn’t regret any of it. Look at it this way, Ashton made it so he can’t hurt anyone else,” Aislyn told her with a grin. She leaned over to the girl that she knew was going to be her sister-in-law and wiped the tears from her face.
“How long do I have to stay here?” Adalyn asked.
“Still waiting for the doctor to come in with test results,” Aislyn explained.
“I need to see Ashton. I need to know he is alright,” Adalyn cried.
“Let me go see if I can find anything out for you. I will be right back,” Aislyn told her.
“Hello, Miss James. I am Dr. Smith. Could we chat a few minutes? I would like to go over your test results since you have some privacy,” he smiled warmly at her. He reminded Adalyn of someone’s grandfather. He seemed very kind to her.
“That would be fine,” she told him.
“Well, we did a lot of blood work on you since no one seemed to know exactly what happened to cause you to faint. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Your HCG levels were slightly high, but nothing that would concern me right now. We ran a pregnancy test, as we do on all female patients with unexplained symptoms like fainting. The test came back negative, but I would like to get another blood test done in a few days. You would just have to come into the lab and the order will be waiting for you,” he told her.
“I’m confused. If the test came out negative, then why do you want to take more blood from me?” She asked, not sure what he meant.
“Well, when you are pregnant, even in the beginning stages, before a pregnancy test can properly tell you a response, blood work can. It will be seeing if the HCG levels have continued to raise. Does that make sense to you?” he asked.
“Yes, I understand what you are saying. What I don’t understand is how you are able to tell already that I could possibly be pregnant already. It literally has only been a few days since I had sex for the very first time, ever in my life,” she explained started to breathe rapidly.
“What did you say to upset
her?!” yelled Ashton as he entered the hospital room.
“Oh, Ashton, you are here!! I was so worried about you,” Adalyn squealed when she saw him. She threw back the blanket and began climbing from the bed. Ashton was around the bed before she was able to make it to a completely standing position.
“Sit back down and cover that cute ass up before I have to kill the nice man for looking at you,” Ashton told her with a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Dr. Smith cleared his throat, looking between Ashton and Adalyn, trying to determine if she was safe with him. “You can stop looking at me like that, Doc. I am the last person in this world that would hurt her,” Ashton growled.
“Ashton be nice. He didn’t do anything to upset me. I was just a little surprised at something we were talking about,” Adalyn explained, leaning into his side as he stood next to her.
“What’s going on, baby?” Ashton asked, concern coloring his face.
“Would you mind explaining it to him. I wouldn’t know how to begin,” Adalyn asked.
“Of course, Miss James. I have to ask though before I give out private information, who is he in relation to you?” Dr. Smith asked.
“He is my boyfriend,” she told him.
Nodding his head, Dr. Smith took a few minutes to explain what was going on with Adalyn. Adalyn could see the instant that Ashton understood what the doctor was telling him. A grin so big spread across his face that she thought his face was going to split in two.
“When do I need to bring her back? Is that why she fainted? Does she need to be on bedrest?” Ashton kept rattling off questions quicker than the doctor could answer.
Dr. Smith laughed at Ashton’s excitement, giving him a smile. “To answer your questions: next week, not sure, and no,” he told Ashton just as quickly.
“Can I take her home now?” Ashton asked more calmly.
“As long as you keep an eye on her. Has someone looked at your hand?” he asked Ashton concerned.
“Haven’t had the chance yet, honestly,” he said trying to pull it away from Adalyn who was now pulling it in her direction to look at it.
“I am going to put in an order for an x-ray. Stay here and someone will come get you when they are ready,” Dr. Smith told him sternly.
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